— What was the inspiration to open Iglu-Dorf?

Sarah: “It all started with Adrian Günter, who was an extreme snowboarder. As you may know, the greatest thing for snowboarders is to take the first ride in the freshly-fallen powder snow. Unfortunately, everybody wants to go up to the mountain with the first gondola, so it’s hard to be the first one. He decided to stay overnight on top of the mountain, so he would definitely be the first.

As there’s no house to sleep in, he built his own igloo, stayed in the igloo, took the ride down in the morning and was the happiest person alive. Everybody asked, “Why do you look so happy?”, and he pointed up to the mountain and said, “You see that line over there? That was me.”

More and more people wanted to stay in his igloo, so that is how it all started. The next season, he made two igloos and then three. Then he had one destination with a couple of sleeping possibilities, then two. Now we have seven. It all started very little and grew year by year. And now we are already in the 12th year.”

— Jacuzzi

— And the construction of the igloos changed quite a bit over time?

Sarah: “We started to build in the old traditional Inuit style, which means block on block. But the problem with that is, it takes too long to build.

To build it block on block, the biggest igloo we ever made was 8 metres wide and high. It took a team of 5 people 2 weeks to build just this one igloo. So we figured it had to be faster, otherwise we could start the season only at the end of January.

So what we do is, we blow up a big balloon, we throw the snow on top of the balloon and we wait a little till the snow gets hard. Then we let the air out of the balloon and what we have is the shape of the igloo.

Then the real work starts. We have different artists who come to build the lounges and make paintings out of snow into the walls — and we make the beds and everything else. So we just invented something new for the main shape, and the rest is done as always.”

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— How long does it take to build the whole village? And how much snow are you moving?

Sarah: “We’d love to have 4 weeks, but sometimes we have to build it all in 2 weeks. Then we work 24 hours a day, in three shifts.

Regarding the amount of snow, if you can imagine a train that has a length of two kilometres and is full of snow, that’s approximately the amount we need to build one village. The biggest igloo we are building is 10 metres high and 10 metres wide. The little ones are 4 by 4 metres. It’s really a lot of snow. And all our igloo builders are losing between 4 to 8 kilos while they’re building the igloos, just because it’s such hard work.”

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— There are standard igloos and romantic ones? Do you get more couples or groups?

Sarah: “We have both. We have the romantic igloos, some of which even have a private Jacuzzi. And we have the standard igloos which are for up to 6 people. But as we have a lot of company events, birthdays or celebrations, it’s basically half-half.

And if there’s an event, you always have the possibility to rent the entire village so that it’s all yours. And you can even have a program made for your group or company, so you're there alone on top of the mountain — it’s really impressive.”

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— And you provide everything like sleeping bags for people to feel relatively comfortable during the night?

Sarah: “Exactly. We provide the sleeping bags, we provide the breakfast, we provide the dinner. People can do a snowshoe walk where we provide the sticks and the shoes. It’s all from us. You basically just need to bring yourself and some winter clothes, of course. The rest you get from us.”

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— What would you describe to be the essence of the Iglu-Dorf?

Sarah: “Most people are always a little bit afraid of the snow and that it feels very cold. That’s not the case, as you are well equipped in your winter clothes keeping you nice and warm. And we give you a lovely cheese fondue, making you warm from inside too. Then we do the snowshoe walk, which warms you up as well, and in the end, you can jump into the hot whirlpool. The sleeping bags are made for -40˚C, and in the evening it’s only around zero, so that’s quite warm.

The other thing is, it’s really an amazing nature experience. You have to imagine yourself on top of the mountain. There’s hardly any light around and you are alone with the few people who are staying in the igloo. You can even hear the blood flow though your body because there’s no other noise. Snow swallows noise, so it’s really quiet. Maybe you’re lucky and it’s a very starry night, so you can see all the stars up in the sky. You just feel very little and you see how overwhelming nature can be, and that’s really impressive.”

— I read that maybe two-thirds of the reservations or bookings come from women. Are they tougher than the guys after all?

Sarah: “I wouldn’t say that, but it’s your assumption (laughs). A lot of women give it as a present to surprise their husband or their boyfriend to stay in an igloo.”

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— Do most of the people make it through the night all right, or do some of them flee and stay in the heated room?

Sarah: “No, it’s really funny. Most of the people actually tell us in the morning, “You know what? It was so hot at night!” Those sleeping bags are really great. They’re not the sleeping bags you know from camping with the scouts. They are real sleeping bags, they’re big, they’re soft – and they’re really warm. So in the night, you’re definitely not cold.”

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— What sort of feedback do you get from people?

Sarah: “At first it just looks like a big pile of snow from the outside. Then you come inside, and people who see an igloo for the first time are like, “Wow! That’s big and beautiful!” The igloos are all connected with each other so you never have to go outside anymore. Inside the igloo, there is no wind, it’s peaceful. Every room has different sculptures and different lights. It’s really, really impressive - and it’s cosy. You don’t want to go out anymore.

I’m already looking forward to my first igloo night again. It’s an experience. It’s a big luxury to be able to sleep outside in the middle of winter, and not be cold – maybe your nose, if you let it stick out of the sleeping bag... But otherwise, it’s just really, really great.

So, most people are really amazed. They would have never thought that it is so comfortable to stay in an igloo, and that we have so much luxury.”

—

— I would assume that some people worry about the construction a little bit?

Sarah: “It’s like the shape of an egg, like the Roman arches. It’s a very safe structure because all the pressure goes to the side walls. Let me tell you something about our security: After igloo season, we always destroy our igloos so the snow is melting faster and the grass grows again. We have snow cats — those big machines that work in the ski area. We had two of them on top of one igloo, and it didn’t even crack at all. They stood at the top and nothing happened. We had one drive against the igloo and the shovel was pushed aside, and nothing happened. It’s really, really stable.”

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— What was one of the more memorable experiences that you either experienced yourself or have heard of?

Sarah: “What I always think is really amazing when you’re up in an igloo with a group of people is, that you sort of start to fit together right away. Because everybody has the same clothes, everybody looks a little funny with their hats and their gloves. Then you start to sit at a table with a wooden chair with a lamp on it, and you start to tell stories to people that are actually strangers.

This ‘igloo feeling’ I call it, is so special that people all of a sudden start to feel like one group. This is something you have to experience. It’s great. It’s a group dynamic I’ve only seen here that strong. It’s a little bit like, “We survived!” It just feels good.”

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— Tell me a little bit about the different locations where the igloo villages are.

Sarah: “We have 7 villages in total. We have an igloo village in Engelberg, which is very close to the airport in Zurich; let’s say an hour and half by car. Then we have the igloo village in Gstaad, and we have one in Davos. We also have a village in Germany on the Zugspitze, and we have an igloo village in Andorra, which is between Spain and France.

And they are all unique. For example, in Zermatt, you lie in the whirlpool and you have the view of the Matterhorn. Or on the Zugspitze, you can look over three countries, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It’s always a beautiful mountain view with a different scenery.”

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— Thank you, Sarah!

Please check directly with the owner for special arrangements or information not listed here.

Our multi-bed Igloos for families, company excursions or individual travellers guarantee a unique experience! There is a maximum of 6 guestes per Standard Igloo ("dormitory"). Of course bookings can be done from 1 person up to big groups.

Dinner of cheese fondue, snowshoe walk, supervision by Iglu-guides and breakfast in the mountain restaurant included.